diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-e2e-kafka.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-e2e-kafka.yml
index 9e4ee1262ec..9877511a236 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-e2e-kafka.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-e2e-kafka.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Run Kafka integration tests
       id: test-execution
-      run: bash scripts/kafka-integration-test.sh -k ${{ matrix.jaeger-version }}
+      run: bash scripts/kafka-integration-test.sh -j ${{ matrix.jaeger-version }}
 
     - name: Output Kafka logs on failure
       run: docker compose -f ${{ steps.test-execution.outputs.docker_compose_file }} logs
@@ -46,4 +46,4 @@ jobs:
       uses: ./.github/actions/upload-codecov
       with:
         files: cover.out
-        flags: kafka-${{ matrix.jaeger-version }}
\ No newline at end of file
+        flags: kafka-${{ matrix.jaeger-version }}
diff --git a/cmd/jaeger/collector-with-kafka.yaml b/cmd/jaeger/collector-with-kafka.yaml
index fb16234bc8c..a248357b978 100644
--- a/cmd/jaeger/collector-with-kafka.yaml
+++ b/cmd/jaeger/collector-with-kafka.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@ service:
       receivers: [otlp, jaeger]
       processors: [batch]
       exporters: [kafka]
-      
+  telemetry:
+    resource:
+      service.name: jaeger_collector
+    metrics:
+      level: detailed
+
 receivers:
   otlp:
     protocols:
diff --git a/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/e2e_integration.go b/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/e2e_integration.go
index 308c7bdf68c..ea7459c268f 100644
--- a/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/e2e_integration.go
+++ b/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/e2e_integration.go
@@ -37,9 +37,11 @@ const otlpPort = 4317
 //   - At last, clean up anything declared in its own test functions.
 //     (e.g. close remote-storage)
 type E2EStorageIntegration struct {
-	SkipStorageCleaner bool
 	integration.StorageIntegration
-	ConfigFile string
+
+	SkipStorageCleaner  bool
+	ConfigFile          string
+	HealthCheckEndpoint string
 }
 
 // e2eInitialize starts the Jaeger-v2 collector with the provided config file,
@@ -52,11 +54,10 @@ func (s *E2EStorageIntegration) e2eInitialize(t *testing.T, storage string) {
 		configFile = createStorageCleanerConfig(t, s.ConfigFile, storage)
 	}
 
-	// Ensure the configuration file exists
-	absConfigFile, err := filepath.Abs(configFile)
+	configFile, err := filepath.Abs(configFile)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to get absolute path of the config file")
-	require.FileExists(t, absConfigFile, "Config file does not exist at the resolved path")
-	
+	require.FileExists(t, configFile, "Config file does not exist at the resolved path")
+
 	t.Logf("Starting Jaeger-v2 in the background with config file %s", configFile)
 
 	outFile, err := os.OpenFile(
@@ -87,12 +88,17 @@ func (s *E2EStorageIntegration) e2eInitialize(t *testing.T, storage string) {
 	}
 	t.Logf("Running command: %v", cmd.Args)
 	require.NoError(t, cmd.Start())
+
+	// Wait for the binary to start and become ready to serve requests.
+	healthCheckEndpoint := s.HealthCheckEndpoint
+	if healthCheckEndpoint == "" {
+		healthCheckEndpoint = fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%d/", ports.QueryHTTP)
+	}
 	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
-		url := fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%d/", ports.QueryHTTP)
-		t.Logf("Checking if Jaeger-v2 is available on %s", url)
+		t.Logf("Checking if Jaeger-v2 is available on %s", healthCheckEndpoint)
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 3*time.Second)
 		defer cancel()
-		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, url, nil)
+		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, healthCheckEndpoint, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Logf("HTTP request creation failed: %v", err)
 			return false
@@ -104,7 +110,7 @@ func (s *E2EStorageIntegration) e2eInitialize(t *testing.T, storage string) {
 		}
 		defer resp.Body.Close()
 		return resp.StatusCode == http.StatusOK
-	}, 60*time.Second, 1*time.Second, "Jaeger-v2 did not start")
+	}, 60*time.Second, 3*time.Second, "Jaeger-v2 did not start")
 	t.Log("Jaeger-v2 is ready")
 	t.Cleanup(func() {
 		if err := cmd.Process.Kill(); err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/kafka_test.go b/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/kafka_test.go
index 099bddba3e1..e3c25457c1e 100644
--- a/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/kafka_test.go
+++ b/cmd/jaeger/internal/integration/kafka_test.go
@@ -12,12 +12,16 @@ import (
 func TestKafkaStorage(t *testing.T) {
 	integration.SkipUnlessEnv(t, "kafka")
 
+	// TODO these config files use topic: "jaeger-spans",
+	// but for integration tests we want to use random topic in each run.
+
 	collectorConfig := "../../collector-with-kafka.yaml"
 	ingesterConfig := "../../ingester-remote-storage.yaml"
 
 	collector := &E2EStorageIntegration{
-		SkipStorageCleaner: true,
-		ConfigFile:         collectorConfig,
+		SkipStorageCleaner:  true,
+		ConfigFile:          collectorConfig,
+		HealthCheckEndpoint: "http://localhost:8888/metrics",
 	}
 
 	// Initialize and start the collector
diff --git a/scripts/kafka-integration-test.sh b/scripts/kafka-integration-test.sh
index 03be9d70aee..eed185727a7 100755
--- a/scripts/kafka-integration-test.sh
+++ b/scripts/kafka-integration-test.sh
@@ -1,26 +1,43 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-set -e
+set -euf -o pipefail
 
-export STORAGE=kafka
 compose_file="docker-compose/kafka-integration-test/docker-compose.yml"
+echo "docker_compose_file=${compose_file}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-/dev/null}"
 
-usage() {
-  echo $"Usage: $0 -k <jaeger_version>"
+jaeger_version=""
+manage_kafka="true"
+
+print_help() {
+  echo "Usage: $0 [-K] -j <jaeger_version>"
+  echo "  -K: do not start or stop Kafka container (useful for local testing)"
+  echo "  -j: major version of Jaeger to test (v1|v2)"
   exit 1
 }
 
-check_args() {
-  if [ $# -ne 2 ]; then
-    echo "ERROR: need exactly two arguments, -k and <jaeger_version>"
-    usage
+parse_args() {
+  while getopts "j:Kh" opt; do
+    case "${opt}" in
+    j)
+      jaeger_version=${OPTARG}
+      ;;
+    K)
+      manage_kafka="false"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      print_help
+      ;;
+    esac
+  done
+  if [ "$jaeger_version" != "v1" ] && [ "$jaeger_version" != "v2" ]; then
+    echo "Error: Invalid Jaeger version. Valid options are v1 or v2"
+    print_help
   fi
 }
 
 setup_kafka() {
   echo "Starting Kafka using Docker Compose..."
   docker compose -f "${compose_file}" up -d kafka
-  echo "docker_compose_file=${compose_file}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-/dev/null}"
 }
 
 teardown_kafka() {
@@ -43,43 +60,41 @@ wait_for_kafka() {
 
   while [ $SECONDS -lt $end_time ]; do
     if is_kafka_ready; then
-      break
+      return
     fi
     echo "Kafka broker not ready, waiting ${interval} seconds"
     sleep $interval
   done
 
-  if ! is_kafka_ready; then
-    echo "Timed out waiting for Kafka to start"
-    exit 1
-  fi
+  echo "Timed out waiting for Kafka to start"
+  exit 1
 }
 
 run_integration_test() {
-  local version=$1
-
-  if [ "${version}" = "v1" ]; then
-    STORAGE=kafka make storage-integration-test
-  elif [ "${version}" = "v2" ]; then
-    STORAGE=kafka make jaeger-v2-storage-integration-test
+  export STORAGE=kafka
+  if [ "${jaeger_version}" = "v1" ]; then
+    make storage-integration-test
+  elif [ "${jaeger_version}" = "v2" ]; then
+    make jaeger-v2-storage-integration-test
   else
-    echo "Unknown test version ${version}. Valid options are v1 or v2"
-    exit 1
+    echo "Unknown Jaeger version ${jaeger_version}."
+    print_help
   fi
 }
 
 main() {
-  check_args "$@"
+  parse_args "$@"
 
   echo "Executing Kafka integration test for version $2"
+  set -x
 
-  if [ "$1" == "-k" ]; then
+  if [[ "$manage_kafka" == "true" ]]; then
     setup_kafka
     trap 'teardown_kafka' EXIT
-    wait_for_kafka
   fi
+  wait_for_kafka
 
-  run_integration_test "$2"
+  run_integration_test
 }
 
 main "$@"